Member

• Member of the New Zealand Private Equity & Venture Capital Association

• Member of the Institute of Directors

Education

• LLB (University of Otago)

• LLM (University of New South Wales)• Admitted New Zealand 1992

New Zealand

Corporate and M&A

Within: Corporate and M&A

Buddle Findlay¬†provides 'the highest quality of service and is always thorough, having a deep tool kit and a senior team with valuable experience and rich networks and knowledge in New Zealand'. 'They understand our requirements and always outperform', says a client. The team, which is led by¬†Auckland-based¬†Simon Vodanovich, frequently acts in some of the largest corporate transactions in the market and Vodanovich recently advised Newell Brands on its NZ$660m acquisition of Sistema Plastics. Partners¬†Nick Bragg¬†and¬†Lisette Hood¬†also played key roles in that transaction. Also recommended are¬†Grant Dunn,¬†who has 'very deep knowledge of the market and a good eye for detail'; senior corporate partner David Thomson, who handled a share sale for Geneva Group; and¬†senior associate Benjamin Sutton,¬†who is 'an emerging talent operating in many ways at a partner level - a safe pair of hands'. In Wellington, Steve Nightingale¬†is a standout practitioner and he advised Infratil on the block trade sale of its NZ$237m stake in Metlifecare.

‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚ÄčThe Supreme Court in Xu v IAG New Zealand Ltd has ruled by a 3:2 majority that, under an IAG house insurance policy, homeowners cannot assign their right to reinstate to a subsequent purchaser of the house. Homeowners must undertake the reinstatement themselves, and if they do not, the right to claim the cost of reinstatement under the insurance policy is lost.

‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚ÄčThe long-awaited "Zero Carbon Bill" was finally released¬†on 9 May, but despite being greeted by considerable media interest there are a number of significant issues that have yet to come to the fore.

‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚ÄčA controversial payment to publishers for content in Europe has implications for New Zealand ‚Äď despite escaping mention in a recent paper that set out the key issues for review for our own copyright laws.

The role of the news media as the "eyes and ears" of the public, and the corresponding right of such news media to be exempted from the Privacy Act 1993 ( Privacy Act ), is entrenched and well accepted. However, the extent to which the news media exemption applies to non-traditional forms of "news" published by "civilian journalists", such as online commentary and blogs, is a hotly debated subject.

The role of the Reserve Bank in assessing and responding to the risks climate change poses to financial stability features in the current consultation on New Zealand's financial policy framework. Inclusion of climate change as part of the wide-ranging review of the Reserve Bank Act is further evidence of the growing trend towards climate-related risk reporting and disclosures.

‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč‚Äč"Any internet user knows, website terms and conditions are burdensomely long. One rarely reads the fine print when they create a social media account, buy an e-book or movie, use a ridesharing service, or download a mobile app."